Media Exaggerates the Power of Public Employee Unions
July 3, 1998 Tonight's All Things Considered (ATC) included a mention of the current National Education Association (NEA) Convention and focused on the proposed merger of that large teacher's union with the other national teacher's union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The description of the anticipated political power of the combined unions was highly exaggerated and failed to take into account the fact that teachers are among the least politically sophisticated people in the organized labor force. As the ATC report stated, the smaller union, the AFT, has always been affiliated with the AFof L-CIO, while the NEA, until recently, considered itself as more of a professional organization than a labor union. ATC should investigate the Oregon Education Association (a chapter of the NEA) as an example of the power of teachers' unions. The Oregon Legislature passed a law in 1997, "The Accountability for Schools for the 21st Century Law,"ORS, Chap.342.805. which cripples the job security and seniority system for Oregon's teachers. The Democratic governor signed the law as part of a deal to get school funding passed by the Republican Legislature. Now, the OEA leadership tries to deny the union was seriously damaged in its ability to uphold teacher's rights. In fact, Oregon's Fair Dismissal Law was trashed, leaving teachers vulnerable to arbitrary dismissals and intimidation, and seniority is no longer the rule in layoffs and rehires. Dig in and learn the facts about the Republican-controlled legislature's revenge against the OEA for giving all its campaign money to Democrats - who lost. Find out about the deal made between the Republican legislative leaders and the Democrat governor to increase spending on public schools in exchange for undercutting the teachers' union. When you know about all this, it won't surprise you that the union is taking advantage of circumstances to keep their gullible teacher-members from fully realizing the losses they have suffered. The teachers are temporarily protected from the effects of the new laws - for another year - by existing labor contracts. Also there is a big wave of retirements, caused by a minor windfall in retirement fund investments, which has created a brief shortage of teachers in Oregon. However, in the next year or two, the chickens will come home to roost. Outspoken or controversial teachers, teachers who flunk the students with influential parents, teachers who teach a less revisionist history of the war in Viet Nam, teachers who blow the whistle on administration screw-ups, these folks will either get in line and shut up, or they will be placed under a "plan of assistance." Failure to fulfill the requirements of the plan over the following school year will result in dismissal.
The Oregon story is not the picture of a labor union flexing political muscle. Even tonight's ATC report included statements by spokespeople from both unions indicating their organizations are planning to concentrate on improving schools and are downplaying member benefits. The emphasis of the ATC story on the relative size and power of the merged unions does not include any recognition that overall union membership and power has greatly diminished over the past 15 years. Such distorted media portrayals of organized labor have been a major factor in the weakening of the union movement. |
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